Man’s suicide after Honda cut in hours

A Honda worker took his own life after suffering financial strains when the factory was on a two-day week, an inquest was told.

Father-of-three Steve Dyson, 40, hanged himself when the South Marston plant was on reduced operating times as a result of the Japanese tsunami in June.

Honda had cut working hours because the tsunami had halted parts for the cars he helped to build, the Gloucestershire Deputy Coroner David Dooley was told at his inquest on Wednesday.

But Mr Dyson, who lived in Stroud, had never shared his feelings and anxieties because he was such a private man, the inquest heard. His wife Claire Louise found him on June 23, when she arrived
home from work.

She said he had worked the previous evening and had arrived back home at 2am.

“I left for work and he was still in bed,” she said.

“I got home about 3pm and called but there was no answer,” she said.

“I went upstairs and found him hanging from the loft hatch. I tried to lift him but he was too heavy.The police came and they told me he had died.”

Sergeant Nick Brown was called to the house where ambulance staff had taken Mr Dyson down and removed the strap from around his neck. He could find no suspicious circumstances surrounding the
death.

Summing up, Mr Dooley said it was a tragic case of a man who was unable to share his troubles.

“He was feeling financial pressure due to the two-day week at Honda but was unable to talk about it,” he said.

“There has to be a higher burden of proof for a finding of suicide, so that I can be sure he intended to take his life and I can exclude all other possibilities.

“He did not leave a note but he did get a chair from the garden and a strap from his weight bench. This, together with the opening of the hatch and securing of the strap, shows intent.

“There was no alcohol or drugs in his system to cloud his judgment, and he took the action in private, at a time when he would not be interrupted.

Ipsoregulated

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